Apple Working to Boost iCloud Integration with Preview and TextEdit Document Viewer Apps for iOS 8

Apple may be expanding iCloud in iOS 8 by releasing iOS versions of Preview and TextEdit that use iCloud for document retrieval and storage. It also is developing tools that will make it easier for developers to create iCloud-based applications. These improvements are expected to arrive later this year, reports 9to5Mac.

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Apple is developing versions of the Mac operating system's Preview and TextEdit applications that are optimized for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The applications are said to not be designed to actually edit PDFs, images, or text documents. Instead, the apps are built to serve as tools to view Preview and TextEdit files stored in iCloud by OS X. Apple added iCloud synchronization for Preview and TextEdit with OS X Mountain Lion, but has not yet released iOS counterparts to actually view the synchronized content.

These new Preview and TextEdit apps will be document viewers only and won't include editing functionality. iPhone and iPad owners will be encouraged to use iWork applications to edit common document types and iBooks to manipulate PDFs.

These changes reflect a new development strategy championed by Apple Senior VP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi. Instead of two separate teams with one focusing on iOS and the other dedicated to OS X, Federighi has merged the teams so the same group of developers work on both the iOS and OS X versions.

Apple also is exploring ways to make iCloud app development easier for developers. Details are sparse, but Apple may provide new iCloud storage tools that allow developers to use iCloud as a file system for sharing data across iOS and OS X platforms.

However they are really the only company truly building a seamless experience. I talked my Father-in-law into buying his first iMac a few months ago (he has had an iPhone and iPad for years). He has said to me that doesn't know what is and is not in iCloud because some things just show up on all devices and he doesn't know if it was iTunes Sync or iCloud... This is the way it should be!

Until iCloud uses client-side encryption with client-side keys, I'm not touching it with a ten-foot pole. They can add all the features an integration they want, but it's worthless to me until I have control over my own data.

Hope to see a big bump in free storage space and the inclusion of home videos into photo stream to go along with this

No joke. 5 free GB of storage for 2 macs, an iPhone, and an iPad is not conducive to a good user experience. I bought 10 extra GB, but I'm pushing the limits on that storage space. And the absolute most you can get is 55 GB? Is this 2005? Where is my unlimited option?

No joke. 5 free GB of storage for 2 macs, an iPhone, and an iPad is not conducive to a good user experience. I bought 10 extra GB, but I'm pushing the limits on that storage space. And the absolute most you can get is 55 GB? Is this 2005? Where is my unlimited option?

An app is supposed to do one job really well. iBooks is a reader. Giving it PDF editing functionality makes it an application. You know, those large, confusing programs that Apple fixed when they invented iOS. You're not supposed to have to deal with menu navigation and feature overload in an app.. I wish someone there still remembered that.

Also, sharing files between iOS and OSX via iCloud? How about just make AirDrop work? It's ridiculous that I have to use DropBox just to share a file between two devices sitting on the same desk. The data travels thousands of miles to go 1 foot. But Apple's solution is to send my data thousands of miles to their servers instead of someone else's.

No joke. 5 free GB of storage for 2 macs, an iPhone, and an iPad is not conducive to a good user experience. I bought 10 extra GB, but I'm pushing the limits on that storage space. And the absolute most you can get is 55 GB? Is this 2005? Where is my unlimited option?

iCloud Backup, excluding document storage, should be free and unlimited. It really sours the user experience when you hit the 5GB limit and you have to micromanage the backup. Given the amount of money they make off the hardware, this should be included in the device cost.

For document storage, the per GB cost is ridiculous. I have 3TB stored on CrashPlan for $5 a month.

Making Preview and Textedit for iOS as viewers only makes no sense at all.

And saying the are coming to the iOS because they got the iCloud save dialog boxes in the Mac means nothing. AppleScript editor has these as well. I doubt AppleScript is coming to iOS anytime soon.....

I sincerely hate how iCloud file saving has been handled on the Mac so far. It defaults all of the standard applications' saving locations to iCloud, and then I have to drop the full dialog down with the arrow to search for the location I actually want (admittedly, it sometimes shows up in the recents just under the iCloud option).

On a semi-related note, the dialog the pops up when you first launch Textedit sucks! It increases the amount of time the application takes to open, and it adds steps between launching the app from spotlight and entering text. I've switched to Sublime but will be looking for fixes.

I think perhaps by WWDC 2014 Apple will finally have figured out what they can and can't do with iCloud for developers and put in place some robust APIs use we can all . They're getting closer on generic CoreData sync but I don't honestly think they're ever going to get it to work better than 95% (that's generous). If this article is correct it seems that something much simpler a-la-Dropbox is on the way. Not the lofty aims of the original, but perhaps a practical approach to getting developers to come back to iCloud.

Can't really mess it up again. The reality vs the actuality of what was promised in the first WWDC was wide indeed.

I work inside a hospital (i.e. behind a hardcore firewall) and access to iCloud is blocked. The dependance on iCloud access really mucks things up, especially for inexperienced users who get error messages. While the apps don't require iCloud access, they are structured in such a way that iCloud sync is the default method for saving and opening files.

I'd like to see Apple bolster the security features of iCloud so the hospital security team feels comfortable with our data residing there.